So – I finally finished rewriting all the low level code for my app, and I’m quite proud of it, actually. It was a big deal. And now it’s time for some UI stuff!
I cranked up my trusty ol’ Visual Studio Code, opened up my flutter app code, some basic documentation, and started coding furiously.
💣
⏳
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After only a few minutes (really), I realized that I had no clue what I was doing. Which was a shocker – well, maybe not that much of a shocker, being that I had never learned what I was trying to do. But there was so much that I did know how to do! And I had just finished some Really Hard Stuff ™! Doesn’t that mean that everything I touch until the end of time will turn to gold?
Turns out – no, actually. It was time to hit the books. And it’s not easy. It’s a lot of new information and methodologies, and I already have a nice sized app which now has to be modified to fit in. It requires a deep, holistic understanding of what my app code is trying to do, and how the system I’m trying to integrate with works.
Sometimes you hit a wall, and you can either retreat to safe ground or push your limits and keep growing. Being a good programmer, or a good anything, means recognizing you’re never so good that you can’t get better, and never so experienced that you can’t be a humble student.
Who is wise? He who learns from every man
Ben Zoma, Pirkei Avot 4:1